


As A Person

by lunrdarling



Category: IASIP, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: F/M, Fluff, i enjoyed writing this one tbh, vulnerable charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12106278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunrdarling/pseuds/lunrdarling
Summary: Charlie shows up covered in rodent blood and makes it Dee's job to get him cleaned up.





	As A Person

“Stop.. Charlie, stop,” Dee tried to hold his hands at his sides, “You’re getting rat blood all over my bathroom,” It was proving more difficult than she’d hoped, “Goddammit Charlie! Stop!” She moved him to sit on her closed toilet seat. She knew that his grimy, stained jeans were going to get it dirty, but it was better than having him smear blood all over her walls in attempt to keep himself standing up straight.

“Just let me shower on my own, Dee. I got this,” He gestured towards himself and towards the bath faucet she’d turned on and was letting warm up.

“No, you don’t ‘got this’. You can barely stand up by yourself, and I don’t trust you not to crack your fucking head open,” She said to him as she looked through the cupboard that she kept her towels in, trying to find ones that she wouldn’t be upset with getting permanently stained.

He’d showed up about 15 minutes ago, covered in blood and high as a kite. At first, Dee panicked. Who’s blood was that? What had he done? Did she need to call someone? Did anyone see him coming here? She was chalk full of questions that she threw at him left and right as he stumbled into her apartment. He was very slow to explain to her that it was rodent blood from a night of “exterminating” the basement in the bar.

When she asked him why he’d come to her apartment, Charlie told her that the shower in his own apartment was broken and that she was good at ‘the hygiene type of stuff’. She wasn’t really sure whether she should take it as a compliment or not. However, she knew that if she didn’t help clean him up then no one would. The thought of him just sitting around soaked in rodent blood was repulsive to her. She couldn’t kick him out in such a dirty state without feeling guilty about it later.

It was clear that he’d wanted to just use her shower on his own and crash on her couch and call it a night. But when she saw the state he was in-- high as a kite, and very possibly cross-faded-- she knew that she would need to help him. He was reluctant to accept her assistance and had been fighting her on it the whole way. She wasn’t going to let the rodent blood turn into his own blood if he cracked his head open or hurt himself some other way while he was trying to get clean.

“Can I take a bubble bath, Dee?” He asked as he reached over and put his hand under the faucet. Water splashed everywhere as he did.

“No, you cannot take a bubble bath,” She slapped his arm down and away from the tub, “I am not going to ever let you take a bubble bath in my tub, and I’m especially not going to let you take a bubble bath when you’re covered in blood.” She hung the towels on the towel rack by the shower and put a washcloth on the edge of the tub.

He let out a loud and frustrated groan.

“Hey,” She shot him a stern look, “Beggars can’t be choosers. Do you want me to help you or not?”

“No!” He said, frustrated, “I just wanted to use your shower! I don’t want you to help give me a bath,” He pouted a bit.

“Well I’m not too thrilled about bathing you either, Charlie, but I don’t trust you to do it yourself so it looks like we’re both just going to have to suffer through this, aren’t we?” She stood up and gestured for him to do the same.

She helped him remove his blood crusted shirt and placed it in the plastic bag she’d brought into the bathroom. He’d kicked off his shoes when he’d first come into her apartment. She had not been looking forward to him taking off his socks. She definitely didn’t want to be near his feet when he did it, so she just told him to do it himself.

Once they were off, she gestured to his jeans.

He looked at her curiously.

“Take them off,” She told him.

“What?”

“You have to take them off if you want to get clean.”

“Why don’t I just shower with them on and then we can clean them while we clean me?” He sounded serious, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“That’s what a washing machine is for. It’s not going to work if you get in with your jeans on. Just take them off, Charlie,” She was getting a little impatient.

He looked hesitantly down at his jeans. Dee saw a look of nerves flash on his face. She didn’t really want to see him with his pants off either, but it was a necessary evil if they were going to get him clean. She felt bad that she hadn’t even thought about the fact that he’d be uncomfortable with it. There wasn’t a lot that Charlie wouldn’t do. It didn’t even cross her mind that he’d be so self conscious about it.

She took a softer tone when she spoke again.

“Hey.. Look at me,” Dee waited until she could look him in the eye before continuing, “It’s not gonna be anything weird, okay? I’m not gonna touch any private areas and I’m not gonna stare or judge or whatever,” She reached out and gently took hold of his upper arm, squeezing it lightly, “This isn’t anything sexual and it’s not going to be.”

“You promise?” He asked.

This startled her a bit. Charlie was someone who’d tried to have sex with her a few times in the past. It was always a fleeting and sudden moment that she’d shot down immediately. But he’d still tried once or twice. The fact that he was so nervous and anxious and possibly scared at the idea of taking his pants off in front of Dee was surprising to her.

“I promise,” She told him honestly.

He nodded, still a bit hesitant, before taking off his jeans. She turned around when he did, just to make him feel a bit better.

“Underwear too?” Charlie asked quietly.

“Underwear too,” She felt guilty for saying. After hearing him sigh, she heard him moving a bit more before the sound of the plastic bag rustling as he put the clothes in it, “All done?” She asked.

He gave her a wordless noise of confirmation.

Dee turned around and looked strictly at his face. Even through the grime and the blood and the sweat on his face, she could see that he was blushing. She made sure to look nowhere but his face as she helped him step into the bath.

“Are you gonna switch it to the shower now?” He asked.

“No,” She shook her head, “I think it’s better that you just take a seat and we’ll wash you off with the bath faucet.”

Charlie nodded slowly as she helped him sit down.

She was about to grab the washcloth and get to work when she had an idea.

Dee pushed herself off the bathroom floor and went to the linen closet again, pulling out a larger washcloth. She brought it back to the bathtub and handed it to Charlie.

“You can cover up with this, if that helps you feel better.”

He took the cloth from her and gave her a bit of a smile, “It does.. Thanks.”

She smiled back at him and nodded.

Then, she got to work.

It was quiet for just a minute or so as she wet the washcloth, poured some of her body wash on it, and started to scrub his shoulders. He was obviously still uncomfortable as he tensed up at her touch. She only scrubbed for a little longer before she stopped, resting back on her knees and ankles as she looked at him.

“What’s up, Charlie?” Dee asked.

“What do you mean?” He didn’t look at her as he answered.

“There’s obviously something wrong. I don’t want to keep doing this until you’re honest with me and tell me what’s going through that head of yours,” She tilted her head a bit, trying to get him to look at her.

“You’re gonna think it’s stupid,” Charlie said quietly. She couldn’t remember a time where she’d heard him go so long without raising his voice. He was an excitable person and volume control was definitely a concept he struggled with. 

“I’m not gonna think it’s stupid, Charlie. I swear on my life that I won’t think it’s stupid, and I won’t laugh, and I won’t judge you. Didn’t I tell you that I wouldn’t judge you?” Dee said.

He nodded and then didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“I haven’t really… Not very many girls have ever seen me naked, or like.. Touched me while I’ve been naked,” Charlie said, a bit of panic in his voice, “And I know you said it’s not sexual and I’m not trying to say it is or, or make it sexual.. But you’re a girl and I’m sitting here naked and I’m just…” Charlie shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“I thought I didn’t count as an actual girl? What about all that stuff you and the guys are always saying? About me being a bird and a whore and all that other shit that makes me not an actual girl?” Usually Dee would have never brought those up on her own. She never wanted to open herself up to have those insults slung at her. But she was trying to get him to feel a little more comfortable and if that meant slandering herself for the moment then so be it.

“That’s not..” He sighed, “That’s more Mac and Dennis and.. And Frank than me.”

She furrowed her brow, “Mmm no, not really. You’ve dished it out just as much as they have.”

“I mean they’re the ones who think that more than I do… I just, sometimes you’ve gotta go along with it just so they don’t give you shit for not following their lead. You can’t tell me you don’t know what that’s like,” Charlie turned his head to look at her finally. 

Now she was the one who looked away, avoiding his eye contact. He was right. She did know the feeling of going along with something she didn’t agree with, just so she wouldn’t be harassed.

“I like you, Dee,” Charlie said. The words hung in the air for a second before he suddenly added, “As a person, I like you as a person and as a um, as a friend and I just… This is just…” He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

She looked at him again, thinking for a few seconds.

“You don’t have to know, Charlie.. It’s okay,” She reassured him. Then, on impulse, she gently reached up and ran a wet hand through his hair, “It’s okay,” She repeated, whispering this time.

His eyes fluttered shut and he let out a sigh, different than the ones he’d let out earlier. This one sounded a bit more relaxed and almost a little bit pleasured. Dee wasn’t weirded out by that. She wanted him to relax. She found herself wanting to make him feel good, in whatever way she could.

She massaged his scalp with her fingers tenderly. He leaned towards her touch. Dee saw the muscles in his shoulders start to relax and his jaw start to unclench. The background noise of the water pouring from the faucet was calming. It was nice to have this moment with him, undisturbed, seeing him unwind in a way she’d never seen before. It was even nicer to know that she was the one causing this for him.

After a few minutes, he whimpered a bit, not with pain but with pleasure.

“Dee,” He whispered.

“Yeah Charlie?” Her volume matched his.

“I think I’d be okay with you finishing giving me a bath, if that’s okay?” Charlie opened his eyes. The look of trust in his eyes hit her right in the heart. She felt an overwhelming connection to him in that moment, like she never had before.

“Of course that’s okay,” She gave him a small smile and nodded her head.

Dee picked up the washcloth again and started to clean him up again.

The rest of the bath was filled with comfortable silence. He’d sobered up quite a bit, faster than she’d ever seen him do before. They spent more time in the bathroom than probably necessary, with her still running the washcloth over his skin long after he’d been clean. 

She turned away and let him clean up the more private parts of his body when it came time to do so.

Once he was out of the bath, she let him wear one of her robes and threw his clothes in her washing machine. They spent about forty five minutes on her bed. Charlie sat in front of her. Dee made him drink a few glasses of water. She took the time to brush his hair, knowing it probably wasn’t something that he did very often. She rubbed his shoulders and drew gentle patterns on his back through the fabric of the robe. Sometimes he mumbled out the occasional yet repetitive thank you, but they didn’t really talk much. More was being said between them in the silence than they could ever say out loud.

Eventually, she noticed that he was starting to fall asleep sitting up. His head kept nodding farther forward and a few times he’d even started to snore. It made her chuckle a bit.

“Hey sleepy head,” Dee said as she leaned forward, pressing herself against his back and resting her chin on his shoulder, “Let’s get you into bed.”

When she helped him up, he started out of her bedroom and towards the living room.

“Where you going?” Dee asked.

“To the couch,” Charlie pointed sleepily, rubbing his eye with his other hand.

“No,” She shook her head and went over to the side of the bed she didn’t sleep on. She pulled back the covers, “Come here and get in.”

Even through his sleepy state she could see the surprise on his face. This wasn’t something she would usually ever let him do, especially when he hadn’t asked or begged. But she felt like she could trust him tonight. He’d earned the right to sleep in her bed and not on her uncomfortable couch.

He stumbled over to the bed and climbed in. She was aware that he was naked under the robe but she didn't mind. Dee pulled the blankets up over him.

She flicked the lights off in the room then climbed onto her side of the bed.

Charlie seemed to have passed out almost immediately. She lay in the dark with only the light of the moon coming in through the window. It fell across his relaxed face in the most cliche of ways. It made her smile. Seeing him so vulnerable tonight had really changed her thoughts on him. She would never look at him the same way again.

Lifting her hand, she slowly ran her hand through his hair again. A slight grin appeared on his face and he hummed softly. He hadn’t been completely asleep like she’d thought he’d been.

He opened his eyes and looked at her in the dark.

“I like you too, Charlie,” Dee whispered, responding to what he'd said earlier, before adding, “As a person, of course,” She smirked at him. He chuckled a little.

“Good,” He nuzzled his head against her hand, still in his hair, “I’m glad.”

She left it there for a bit before pulling back to her own body.

They both closed their eyes. Just as Dee was about to fall asleep, Charlie broke the silence.

“Goodnight, Dee.”

In the dark, he reached out until she felt him take her hand in his and she let him hold it.

“Goodnight, Charlie.”


End file.
